


Making New Friends

by digthewriter



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-06
Updated: 2016-04-26
Packaged: 2018-05-31 16:42:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6477934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/digthewriter/pseuds/digthewriter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Merlin is starting a new school and he's nervous.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [A Last Chance](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3435125) by [digthewriter](https://archiveofourown.org/users/digthewriter/pseuds/digthewriter). 



> Author knows nothing of the school system in the UK so it's totally made up.
> 
> This story is a prequel to [A LAST CHANCE](http://archiveofourown.org/works/3435125/chapters/7529438)

Merlin's Mum had told him to be brave; even if he was afraid to start a new school, to keep his head high. Of course, _she_ had no idea how mean some eleven year olds could be. 

As soon as he entered the hall, he saw many kids running around, some standing in the corner, and talking, and no one seemed to be paying him any attention. "No attention is good attention," he said to himself and kept trudging through.

Merlin had only taken a few steps into the dark and gloomy corridor when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around to see and was pleasantly surprised to find Gwaine. Long hair and dark eyes, Gwaine was hard to miss wherever he went.

"I thought your dad had threatened to cut your hair?" Merlin said in a surprise. He wanted to hug his friend but refrained. He didn't people to start looking at him _now_.

Gwaine shrugged. "I ran out of the house before he got up this morning. It's what happens when you drink all night."

Merlin felt bad for Gwaine, but didn't dare show it. His Dad was a mean one, meanest as they came, and sometimes Merlin thought having no dad was better than having a dad like Gwaine's.

"You're going to get in trouble here too," Merlin said shaking his head. "Now let's go find our classroom before--"

The bell rang cutting Merlin off. They ran towards the general direction of where everyone seemed to be going and figured they'd find their way. Gwaine was Merlin's best friend, besides Will. But, when Gwaine had found out that he was going to be switching schools, Gwaine had convinced his Mum to let him go to the same school as Merlin. His family had money so it wasn't a problem for Gwaine's mum to make a few calls and transfer Gwaine over. It was too bad that Will couldn't be with them also.

By the time they got through the door and into their classroom, Merlin found two empty spots but there weren't next to each other. Gwaine took the lead and too the seat in the far corner sitting behind a pretty girl with long black hair. He looked at Merlin and winked when he sat down. Merlin gave the pretty girl one look and then looked at Gwaine again. He was sure by the end of the day, that girl was going to be his girlfriend.

Merlin took the other seat. He settled in nicely, kept his head down until the teacher spoke.

"Hi, I'm Arthur. Arthur Pendragon," the boy next to him said. He had short blond hair, with really big blue eyes. Merlin had never seen that kind of blue before, he was sure of it. There was something about him that made Merlin's heart race.

The boy, Arthur, blushed slightly as he kept looking at Merlin, finally, he spoke again. "Uh...do you have a name?"

"Merlin," Merlin answered, trying not to blush also. He looked away from Arthur immediately and opened his notebook. Thankfully, he didn't have to say anything after because the teacher started talking.

Still, it was bad luck, really, because the next thing the teacher had done was introduce Merlin and Gwaine to the class and made them come up to the front. Gwaine, of course, was super confident, and all Merlin wanted to do was hide. He didn't want to start a new school but his Mum had said that it was better for her if he went to a school near her new job.

When he sat back down into this seat, he chanced a glance at Arthur who was grinning at him.

"What?" Merlin whisper-asked the curious, yet annoying boy.

"There's something about you Merlin," Arthur said.

Merlin scowled. "You just met me," he said.

"I know," Arthur said, casually, and turned away from Merlin.

Merlin immediately missed talking to his new friend.


	2. Their First Firght

Whenever Merlin was in his class with Arthur, Arthur always made it a point to speak to him. It was really infuriating because they weren't allowed to talk _all the time_. Right?  
  
Merlin just didn't understand how Arthur didn't get that. He didn't want to get in trouble, not at the new school, but Arthur seemed to not care about the rules.  
  
"Stop," Merlin finally said a week after Arthur kept interrupting the study sessions to talk to Merlin. Merlin didn't want to risk getting a "time out," even it that sounded really childish. The teachers at the new school weren't beyond that. They gave you a time out no matter how old you were.  
  
"What?" Arthur asked, sounding surprised.  
  
"Stop trying to be my friend. I'm not interested," Merlin said, harshly. He didn't have any other choice. He cared more about his reputation with the teachers than his friendship with Arthur -- even if that wasn't true -- not really.  
  
"Fine!" Arthur shouted and threw a set of papers at Merlin before he walked out of class.  
  
Arthur bloody walked out of class! Merlin couldn't believe that. He was surely going to get in trouble now.


	3. Friends In Secret

"Maybe he has a crush on you," Gwaine helpfully provided his insight as he and Merlin started to make their way home after school. 

"That's stupid," Merlin said, shaking his head. "He's a boy, and I'm a boy. Boys don't have crushes on other boys, Gwaine." 

Although Merlin knew he liked Arthur. He liked Arthur a lot and not in the same way he liked Gwaine or Will. Maybe the way Gwaine liked Morgana, but that was really stupid though, wasn't it? 

"It's not stupid. You can like whoever you want," Gwaine said. 

"Gwen likes Arthur," Merlin said. "She's _always_ around him. And he likes the attention from her too. He just wants to bother me because I don't want to be part of the fan club." Merlin shrugged and looked away from Gwaine. "She told Morgana they're going to get married someday." 

"I don't know. I think he likes you. He likes you a lot," Gwaine said. 

Merlin didn't want to talk about this anymore. There was no point. Besides, it wasn't like they were going to be friends now since Merlin had yelled at Arthur in front of everyone. Hopefully, he was going to start keeping his distance from Merlin now. Merlin didn't want more attention than he was already guessing. He and Gwaine were the only kids at school that didn't have a driver drop them off and pick them up from school. It was obvious everyone at the school had rich parents. And Arthur's parents were the richest. 

"Morgana's having some kids over at her house after school on Friday," Gwaine said, when they'd been quiet for a long time and they were now close to going the opposite way to their houses. Merlin always took a left at Catarina Street, and Gwaine took a right. Sometimes, Gwaine would invite Merlin over, but he didn't think today was going to be one of those days. 

"Yeah? Are you going to go?" 

Gwaine shrugged. "I have to. You gonna come with me?" 

"I don't know..." 

"Arthur will be there." 

"Yeah," Merlin said, thinking exactly the reason he didn't want to go. 

"Maybe you can be friends with him outside of school. Maybe he'll leave you alone then." 

Merlin nodded and they said their goodbyes. As he walked home, he thought about what Gwaine said. Maybe that would be better. If he went to Morgana's party after school, maybe Arthur would be there. Then, he could tell Arthur that he can't get in trouble at school because he can't afford to get kicked out. His mum's been working hard for them to stay there and he has to make life easy for his mum. 

As he approached his house, Merlin almost stopped in his tracks when he saw Arthur sitting outside the front door. 

"What are you doing here?"

Arthur stood up and stalked towards Merlin. He was mere centimetres apart and Merlin thought he might actually punch him. He instinctively took a step back. "I don't want any trouble," Merlin said. 

"Trouble?" Arthur said, looking confused. "I just came by to... I don't know... I thought we were going to be friends and you were just so rude—" 

"Me? You're the one who is always causing trouble in class. I can't be like that. I have to study—" 

"I study too!" Arthur insisted. "That day when you were so mean to me, I was trying to tell you something important." 

"Everything you say is important, Arthur!" Merlin shouted. He didn't know when they'd started yelling at each other, but that's what they were doing. Eventually, he pushed past Arthur and started to walk towards the house. 

Arthur followed him.

"I thought we were going to be friends," Arthur said as Merlin had allowed him to enter his house and closed the door behind them. 

"I can't be friends with you at school," Merlin said. 

"Fine." 

"Fine?" Merlin asked, confused. 

"We can be friends after school." 

"Why do you want to be friends with me so badly?" 

"I don't know," Arthur said, looking down at his feet. Suddenly, his expression had changed and he looked so shy, so different. 

"Are you going to be there at Morgana's—" 

"No. I don't like her parties, or her friends," Arthur said, looking up finally. "I leave the house when people come over. Why were you going to go?" 

"Gwaine invited me but I didn't say yes." 

"Cool. Do you want me to come over here? I can bring my video games, we can play—" 

"You're going to bring the whole system?" Merlin asked, surprised. "I don't have one." 

"Sure," Arthur said shrugging as if it were no big deal. "I can have the driver bring it for me. And maybe I can leave it here and my dad can buy me another one." 

"I don't want your video game system," Merlin said, hurriedly. 

"It's not for _you_ ," Arthur said, rolling his eyes. "It's for when I come over and—" 

"Gwaine will see it and then he'll ask a lot of questions," Merlin said. 

"Fine, then I won't leave it here. But you'll have to promise me that you're going to come over to my house to play." 

"Okay," Merlin said. "But I do my homework with Gwaine sometimes and if I'm with him, I can't just leave to go to your house." 

"Fine..." Arthur said, and looked like he was thinking something through. "What about when he's hanging out with Morgana?" 

"What about you and Gwen?" 

"What about her?" Arthur asked. "She's like my girlfriend. We all have one. Except you, I guess." 

Merlin tried not to frown at hearing that. He liked Gwen, she was really nice, and one of the smartest girls in his class. He shouldn't have felt sad to know that Gwen had a boyfriend, it's not like _he_ liked her, but Arthur—

"I already told her that I can't hang out with her after school every day and she knows that because she tutors in the library after school most days. She doesn't have to know who I play videogames with." 

"Why do you make it sound like we have to hide it?" Merlin asked, confused. He said that he could be friends with Arthur after school so he wouldn't get in trouble during class, but not like a secret. 

"We don't have to hide it, but you clearly don't want to be friends in school. I mean, no one ever wants to be friends with me in secret. Everyone likes me because my dad has a lot of money and their parents force them to be friends with me—" 

"I'm not like that," Merlin said. "I don't care if your dad has money. I don't want to be friends with you because of that."

"I know. That's why I like you," Arthur said, smiling. 

Merlin couldn't help but hide the grin on his face after that. Arthur liked him. Even after Merlin had been mean to Arthur, he really liked him. 

"Okay," Merlin said excitedly. "I'll tell my mum that you're going to be over on Friday and we'll be playing video games." 

"Great." Arthur said. Then, he was out the door before Merlin could say anything else. 

He had no idea what he was going to tell Gwaine. He'd never had a secret friend before, and it sounded exciting.

* * *


	4. Liking A Boy

"Hey, Merlin," Arthur said as he and Merlin had the consoles of the Nintendo gripped in their hands. Merlin was trying to maneuver around Arthur's car on the screen. 

"Yeah?" Merlin said, almost getting ahead as he narrowly escaped the blue car on his left. 

"Do you like me?" 

"What?" Merlin nearly dropped the console on the floor. "What?" His heart sank into his stomach, and he was at a loss for words. How was he supposed--what would he even say--he didn't think about that. Not for a long time. For God's sake, Merlin thought if he just stayed friends with Arthur in secret, that would be enough. No one would have to know. 

"Like how Gwen likes me. You know? Do you?" Arthur asked, calm as a cucumber. His eyes were fixed on the screen and he hadn't looked at Merlin for even one second. 

Merlin placed the console next to Arthur on the sofa and left the room. 

He went into his kitchen and poured himself a glass of water. He tried to think about everything else in the world but what Arthur had just asked him. Sure, he liked hanging out with Arthur. Making him laugh made Merlin happy but it didn't mean he _liked_ him. Not like that! He felt the same way about Gwaine too, but somehow he knew whatever he felt for Arthur was nothing like Gwaine. If anything, the way Gwaine talked about Morgana was how Merlin felt about Arthur. 

He concentrated on the game on the Nintendo. He liked the way the cars moved left and right and he wondered if he could draw designs like that for his own game. He'd been drawing in his notebook for days now, and if his mum got him books on video game designs, he could really learn how to do that by himself. 

"Merlin?" 

Merlin's thoughts had only managed to distract him a little bit because Arthur came looking for him in the kitchen. 

"I'm tired, Arthur. I think you should go home now." 

"Wait," Arthur said, pulling on Merlin's arm. "Come on, it was just a question." 

"Why would you even ask me that?" Merlin said trying to sound disgusted. "Boys don't like other boys, Arthur." 

"That's not true," Arthur said quietly. "My mum's brother lives with another man. Mum says they're like practically married, but since my father doesn't like them, they don't come around the house." 

"Well, good for them," Merlin sneered. "I don't like you, Arthur. We're just friends. Besides--" 

"I like you," Arthur said simply. 

"What?" Merlin said again, his resolve melting. 

Arthur came close towards him, and Merlin took a step back. 

"Don't be afraid, I won't do anything you don't want," Arthur said. 

"What do you want?" Merlin spat, but he stopped moving. 

Arthur kept stepping closer and closer until he leaned in and kissed Merlin on the cheek. "I like you too, but we can't tell anyone. Is that okay?" 

Merlin looked at Arthur confused. If he didn't want them to tell anyone, then why did he tell Merlin? He opened his mouth to say something but then the doorbell rang, before the front door started to open. 

Merlin stepped away from Arthur and went to see who it was. Only one person rang the doorbell before he opened the door. Just as he'd thought, Will was standing by the door, grinning at Merlin. 

"Hey, Will--" 

"What is he doing here?" Will asked, sounding cross. 

"We were just playing--" Merlin began to say when Arthur cut him off with, "I was just leaving. See you later, Merlin." 

Will went to a different school than Merlin and Gwaine. Merlin's mum had wanted Merlin to go a school closer to her work so she'd switched flats so he could go to the new school. Gwaine had stubbornly followed him, but Will's parents didn't want Will to change school so he'd stayed back. Now, every once in a while, Will simply showed up at Merlin's flat to see him. Usually, it was okay, but ever since Merlin had become friends in secret with Arthur, Will seemed to hate him. Merlin had no idea why. 

"I can't believe you're still friends with him," Will said, plopping himself on the sofa. 

Merlin shrugged and sat next to him, their knees touching. "He's nice to me." 

"I'm nice to you," Will said. 

Merlin rolled his eyes. "Yeah, when you're not busy insulting me or Gwaine. Anyway, anything good happen at school?" Merlin missed his old school, no matter how much fun the new one was, and with Gwaine there, things didn't seem too different. Besides, there was Arthur to consider too. But he missed seeing Kara, and Will, and Sophie. 

"A new boy started last week. I think...I think I like him," Will said in a casual tone; clearly he didn't think it was totally weird to like a boy. 

"You do? You like a boy?" 

"Yeah," Will said, defensively. "Nothing wrong with liking a boy, I think. My mum says love is love. But you know, I don't _love_ him...I just like looking at him. And like playing rugby--" 

"You're such a girl," Merlin teased, throwing a pillow at Will, still he was relieved at least his best friend would have been okay when Merlin, in the future, would tell the world that he liked a boy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is a prequel to [A LAST CHANCE](http://archiveofourown.org/works/3435125/chapters/7529438)


End file.
